The full commission will vote on the mosque application June 6 in the concert hall at City Hall.

"I think everyone would agree that we've had a healthy debate on this issue," said commissioner Michael Mushak. "That's part of the process. We have to come to some consensus. I know we are not supposed to say we are sorry, but that's my heart."

"If (the commission) votes for denial I feel badly too, but we have a job to do here," added commissioner James White.

The Al-Madany Islamic Center of Norwalk's proposal, which was first submitted to the Planning and Zoning Commission in the spring of 2010, calls for a 27,000-square-foot building, including a prayer hall, classrooms and a community/recreational center, as well as 89 parking spots, on a 1.5- acre property. The property lies within a AAA residential zone, where places of worship are permitted by special permit.

The biggest point of contention for the planning committee and the other zoning commissioners at the meeting Wednesday evening and in a special meeting on May 10 was the community/recreation center and the lack of parking to accommodate it.

Typically with an accessory use building, no additional parking is required according to city regulations, but the majority of the commissioners believe that the 24,000-square-foot community/recreation center does not fit the definition of an accessory use space.

"By special permit regulations a community center is not a permitted used. Our regulations define a community center," said commissioner Adam Blank. "And a community center is not permitted under any circumstances in a triple AAA zone. It's not permitted as an accessory use.

"The proposal calls for eight classrooms, three offices, two libraries, a gymnasium, kitchen, counseling area and a community service room. I don't know what a community center is if that's not a community center."

"They did say at the hearing they wouldn't be using them simultaneously, and I don't see how that's possible. When they do use both simultaneously they don't have enough parking," Santo said.

"You've got 3,000 square feet for the prayer hall area. You've got 24,000 square feet of other uses Whether you decide it's a community center or not, 24,000 square feet of other uses are not accessory uses. And that doesn't comply with our regulations," Blank said. "There's been no parking allocated for that 24,000 square feet of additional space, which there would certainly need to be if there were other principal uses for it. You've got no parking for 88 percent of the square footage."

"I am amazed that we have city regulations, that an architect can make a plan based on those regulations, and then we can say as a board that it doesn't qualify," Sumpter said. "As far as I am concerned if that building is allowed, plus the accessory building, on one-and-a-half acres, how can we say it can't work?"

"It's a special permit and there are other mitigating factors that this commission has the right to take into consideration," said White in response to Sumpter.

"If this was an as of right use, we wouldn't be talking about this," White continued. "I think it will be important for us after this application for us to go back and review the regulations. I don't think the intent of the regulations is to allow the density of something like this in a residential neighborhood."

No one from the public was allowed to speak during the special meeting, but if Farhan Memon could have, he would have respectfully said that the commissioners "are wrong on the facts and they are wrong on the law."

"This is a staff and a commission that is very well versed in the zoning as it applies to condos and to commercial buildings," Memon said Friday. "They are not informed as to the applicable laws when it comes to religious buildings. In particular this issue of what's an accessory use. When one of the commissioners asked Mr. Greene (director of P&Z), `Is there a definitioin of an accessory use?' he said, `No there isn't, use the Webster's dictionary.' In the dictionary accessory means subordinate. And that is categorically the wrong answer. Norwalk's own zoning regulations have a definitation of what an accessory use is."

Memon added that beyond that, the Supreme Court in Connecticut has ruled that in the context of a religious building an accessory use includes prayer, celebration of festivals, study, meals and recreation.

"The fact that Mr. Greene either chose to ignore that Norwalk regulations say what they say, and that the Supreme Court has said what it's said, means that he either didn't know or didn't want to bring it up. From that misinformation everything goes downwards from there... . It would have been the end of the debate about whether the building is accessory use or not. I am at a loss as to why Mr. Greene, after 30 years of being in the Zoning Department of Norwalk, said that the definition of accessory use is found in Webster's dictionary. These types of mistakes cause money and time for them and the city... . We believe that the right to worship is one we are going to pursue and it's one that if needed we will pursue in the courts."

"As a member of the "Keep 127 Fillow Street Residential" group, we were encouraged by the Plan Review Committee's vote to deny the special permit," said Israel Herskowitz, president of nearby Stonegate Condominium Association, Thursday morning via e-mail.

"The Commissioners' concerns regarding increased traffic, lack of overflow parking and density on the 1.56 acre site are the same concerns we have expressed at the April public hearing. We look forward to the vote on June 6."

The entire commission can still vote to deny, approve or approve with modification.

At the start of the meeting, Blank showed support for approving the mosque's prayer hall without the community/rec center building. But Santo pointed out that the applicant's lawyer showed no interest in modifying the proposal and consequently removed that option from discussion.

Memon responded to that Friday by saying,

"The commission can still approve with modification. My thoughts are that while certainly we believe that we are entitled to build what is set forth in our plan, half a mosque is better than no mosque... .I think the city is getting the wrong advice from its staff."